UX Research & Designer

Who we are:

Raft (https://goraft.tech) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional small business with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development, with headquarters in Reston, VA. Our range of clients include innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

Our team is rapidly growing and looking for an experienced UX Designer/Researcher  to contribute to development efforts and join our passionate team of high-impact problem solvers. We enjoy the challenges of human-centered design, security, and scale to create better outcomes for our federal agency partners.

About Role: 

As a part of our team, you will study user behavior, strategic initiatives, product features, and more, bringing data and insights into every decision we make. Your work will impact how we think about our users, our ability to identify and satisfy their needs and create compelling customer support offerings and experiences informed by those needs. You will support the Discovery and Framing process and follow-on user interviews, as well as perform a user-centered approach in the application design development. You will advise on product decisions through user research, customer development, and iterative feedback loops. The UX-er should be comfortable implementing Lean UX principles in defining minimum viable products (MVP) for prototyping and testing. You will be working in a paired-programming environment as well. 

What we are looking for: 

• 3-5 years of relevant work experience in UX, product design and/or enterprise application fields
• Possess strong knowledge and hands on experience in designing applications following a lean user experience process
• BA/BS or higher, in experience design, industrial design, HCI
• Experience using Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, or other applicable design tools
• Comfortable in a pair-programming environment
• Experience with early-stage design, ideation techniques, concept and usability testing, and other research methods
• Excellent management, communication, and presentation skills
• Experience collaborating with a team of programmers with varying skillsets
• Experience balancing customer and user feedback to create a desirable solution
• Experience with agile and lean philosophies
• Designers must be eligible to obtain a SECRET level clearance or higher

Highly preferred:

• Ability to take things from zero to one
• Roll-up-your-sleeves attitude
• Strong communication skills

Work Type:

• Remote

What we will offer you:  

• Highly competitive salary 
• Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage 
• 401(k) and company match 
• Unlimited PTO + 11 paid holidays 
• Education & training benefits 
• Annual budget for your tech/gadgets needs 
• Monthly box of yummy snacks to eat while doing meaningful work 
• Team off-site in fun places! 
• Generous Referral Bonuses 
• And More!

Our Vision Statement:  

We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission.

Our Customer Obsession:

We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.

How do we get there?

Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm.

Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration.

We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.